Canadian Guilds Show Their Support to Quilt Canada 2016!

A huge shout out to the Canadian quilt guilds that showed their support of our upcoming Quilt Canada 2016 conference! This incredible annual 4 dayconference in June, brings quilters together across the country to enjoy classes, lectures, friendship and of course the largest Merchant Mall ever!

Without their continued support each year we could not deliver the top notch conference that quilters come to count on.  Thank you for supporting the Canadian Quilters Association/Association canadienne de la courtepointe. 

You guys rock!

FAN
Island Quilters' Guild
Vancouver Quilters' Guild
Vermilion Quilters Guild
Grouse Mountain Day Quilters Guild
Kootenay Quilters Day Guild
Prince George Quilters Guild

Annapolis Valley Quilt Guild
Elgin Nimble Thimbles
Near North Quilters' Build
Dufferin Piecemakers Quilting Guild
London Friendhip Quilters' Guild
Limestone Quilters' Guild
Brant Heritage Quilters' Guild

Timberland Quilters' Guild
Abbotsford Quilters' Guild
Black Gold Quilt Ptach Guild
Niagara Heritage Quilters' Guild
Mahone Bay Quilters' Guild
Orillia Quilters' Guild
Cochrane Quilters
Almonte Quilters Guild
Nanaimo Quilters' Guild
Orchard Valley Quilters' Guild

Battle River Quilters' Guild
Mississauga Quilters Guild Inc
Summerland Material Girls Quilt Guild
Lethbridge Centennial Quilters Guild

Silver Star Quilters
Westshore Quilters' Guild
Sagebrush Quilters Guild
Fraser Valley Quilters' Guild
Region of York Quilters' Guild
Greater Moncton Quilt Guild
Victoria Quilters' Guild
Brampton Quilters' Guild Inc

Ocean Waves QuiltSociety
Akerley Area Quilt Guild
Country Lane Quilt Guild
Ridge Meadows Qilters Guild
Kincardine Sunset Quilters' Guild
Lions Gate Quilter Guild
Waterloo County Quilters' Guild
Halton Quilters Guild
Foggy Bay Quilt Guild

Busy Hands Quilt Guild
The Valley Quilters Guild
Georgian Quilters' Gild
Tofield Country Quilters
Baconsfield Quilters Guild
Kennebecasis Valley Quilting Guild

Pembroke Log Cabin Quilt Guild
Parksville Quilt House Quilters Guild
Penticton Quilter's Guild
Blue Mountain Quilters Guild
Royal City Quilters
Chilliwack Piecemakers Quilting Guild
Gwillimbury Quilt Guild
Happy Quilters
Pieceful Night Quilters Guild
Fraser Quilters Guild
Chilliwack Quilters Guild
Stitches from the Heart
Central Alberta Quilters Guild
Oxford quilters Guild
Northshore Pins & Needles Quilting & Stitchery Guild
Northern Lights Quilt Guild
Kanata Quilt Guild
Saskatoon Quilters' Guild
Sylvan Lake Quilters Guild
Huron Perth Quilters Guild

If any guilds are still interested in finding out more about how you can help, please contact the President, Linda at president@canadianquilter.com.

Mobile App for Quilt Canada 2016 Tutorial

CQA/ACC is proud to present a mobile app for Quilt Canada 2016! We have created a tutorial to help you through the steps of downloading it.

It has everything a show guide would have in it, but better!  (Don't worry we are printing show guides, but they simply aren't able to contain all the information we crammed into our mobile app in an easy, user friendly way) Here are some of the perks to having a mobile app:

• Everything is at your fingertips.
• There is a daily schedule and times of every show and event happening.
• You can get instant notifications, for door prize winners, demo schedules, last minute changes, etc.
• The activity stream is for you to see what everyone else is doing at Quilt Canada and for you to add in your comments and pics!
• There is a map of the Merchant Mall with all of the vendors hilited at the touch of your finger.
• List of all vendors, workshops, speakers, and sponsors!
• You can connect and make new friends on the app.

One of the best parts about it, is if you are unable to go, you can download the app and look at all the quilts on the activity stream so you can see the talent and creativity of Canadian quilters!

Tutorial:

Go to your App Store on your device, or may be called Google Play as well.

Click on it and hit the search button at the bottom, looks like a magnifying glass. Some devices the search button may be at the top.

Once you click on that, you will get your keyboard and a bar at the top, type in 'Quilt Canada'.

You will see a search engine bring up Quilt Canada 2016. Click on that. 

You will be brought to a screen that looks like this, click on the little cloud with the arrow to download the app. Other devices may just 'install'.

Our app works on iPad. While searching for the app on your iPad, make sure to switch to "iPhone only" mode in the App Store as shown on the screenshots below

Once it finishes downloading, it will say 'Open'. Click on that and it will take you right into the app. Or on some devices it may just be in your app list, so just select Quilt Canada.

When you are done playing in the app, you will always be able to go back by finding the icon on your desktop or front of your device, as shown below. Or on some devices it may just be in your app list, so just select Quilt Canada.

When you get into the app, you can see the menu with all the different options. You can create a profile so you can add pics and comments, but you don't have to in order to use the app.

There is a daily schedule so you can see what events are on that day, what time shows open and close at and much more. 

Here is the list of sponsors, and by clicking on one, it will take you to their profile, to tell you where they are in the Merchant Mall, and their website. 

There is a map of the Merchant Mall and by clicking on a block you can see where the vendor is in the Mall. There is also a list of vendors with their booth numbers attached. 

All our speakers and their topics are covered too!

Don't wait!  Download the app today!  Let us show YOU what is happening at Quilt Canada 2016 this June 15-18th!

Congratulations to the Youth Challenge Winners!

Our young quilters have done it again! Some amazing quilts have been entered by 31 youth in our 2016 Cantik Batik Youth Challenge - My Favourite Game or Sport. 

To see these quilts, visit our website gallery.

A special thank you to Cantik Batiks for your continued support of promoting quilting in youth across Canada!

This year’s winners are:

Rachel Gelinas (JK-Gr 5) with her quilt “Fisher Girl”

Isabella Nie (Gr 6-8) with her quilt “Canada’s Hockey Night”

Sara Evans (Gr 9-12) with her quilt “Checkmate”

Laina Gold - Viewers’ Choice winner and her quilt “Tag, You’re It!”

Thanks to the wonderful quilters who worked with these young people to inspire and teach them about quilting.  I’m sure we’ll be seeing some of these quilters in our National Juried Show in a few years!

Thanks to Ann Perry who had the difficult job of judging all these entries! 

More details about these winners and their quilts will be featured in the next edition (summer) of The Canadian Quilter.

An Ode to Notions That Only a Quilter Would Understand

Zoë MacDonald is E-Commerce and Social Media Manager at Canada’s largest manufacturer and wholesale distributor of quality sewing, quilting, and knitting supplies. Crafty lady and recent quilting convert, she is keen to share her love for the latest in notions.

Before I started quilting I was overwhelmed by, if not dismissive of, all of the special tools created for this purpose, even those I now consider to be part of an essentials-only quilting kit.

Do you really need a pizza rotary cutter when you have tailor shears? And does this ruler need to be so big that it requires its own special carrying bag when you’re carting it to class? About a minute into slicing squares and strips for my first scrappy quilt, I conceded: Necessary. But surely you don’t need three different kinds of marking pens? (Guess again.) The extra long and extra sharp flat head pins? (Oh yes, you do.) Clamps? Numbered pins? Grippy gloves? Yes, yes, and yes.

I should clarify that technically you don’t “need” any of these things any more than you need more than one pair of shoes (or piece of pizza, if you prefer) but they can really improve the creative process and the quality of your finished work: They are an investment in the quality of your quilting time and a tiny insurance policy on the success of your finished work.

My most favourite notions are the ones I didn't know I needed because they solved a problem I didn't know I had. In that respect, I have to hand it to Clover. They think of everything.

You know when you are holding fabric in place with your finger and you need to press that exact piece and you end up burning your finger because it is impossible to move your finger away at the precise right moment without losing the spot? They made a tool for that! You know when you are turning something right-side-out and end up tediously pinching the seams flat with your fingers? They made a tool for that too!

Having relatively recently had these revelations, I wondered what else I could be doing more efficiently and so I perused Clover’s offerings before diving into the final stages of the quilt I’m working on.

Air Erasable Marker (With Eraser)

I use an air-erasable marker for quilting stitches because I alternate marking and stitching in small batches. I treat the sewing part like my reward for the (in my opinion) tedious marking part.

By the time I was ready to bind all my markings were gone but when I brought an iron to smooth a small crumpled-looking section, they suddenly reappeared – with a vengeance. That’s when I learned the Clover version is backed by a very effective eraser (phew!). 

Fabric Adhesive Stick

The Fabric Fun Marker is an old favourite. Duo-tipped and colour fast, it’s a quick and easy way to make a permanent mark on your sewing and craft projects without worrying about running.

To hold my quilt label in place before boxing it in with binding, I used the Fabric Adhesive Stick – which is exactly what it sounds like. Side note: Using this was nostalgic and satisfying in equal measure; I have a feeling this will be a fast favourite.

Clover Clips

Clips of some variety have been around for a while and are, according to me, absolutely essential for both quilting and sewing. Each clip is like a tiny spare hand in your sewing room holding your project in place. I usually use the purple Heirloom version but found that Clover’s worked awesomely well too – and come in a variety of colours, with accessories.

The neon green ones are my favourite.

I never imagined I’d chose to make my own binding. I thought, “don’t they know about the premade stuff in pack?” This time, I went "full quilter", and auditioned fabrics when the top was done.

Fusible Bias Tape Maker & Ironing Tools

I can’t believe how easy this little contraption was to use. You pull a strip of fabric through the channel of the bias tape maker (initially you might need a tailor’s awl to guide it along), and it comes out in folded tape form. For the fusible bit, simply slide the tape over the top as you go.

To secure, Clover makes a Mini Iron for precision, but you could also use the Hold it Precision Stiletto that I mentioned earlier to hold the tape in place while you use your regular iron to secure.

At long last, she’s done!

... And more painlessly than usual. Did I miss anything? Let me know below if you have any favourite notions that make the finishing touches more fun.

  

­­­­­­­­­­­­Look for Clover quilting notions at your local Canadian quilt retailer. For more inspiration and product education, follow H.A. Kidd and Company Limited on Facebook.

Counting Inches #4

You are doing great counting the inches across Canada!

With all those quilt measurements tabulated, we made it to the outskirts of Thunder Bay, ON. We are well on our way to Toronto for Quilt Canada 2016 at the International Centre June 15-18th.

Great job to everyone who has been checking in! We now have 44 guilds/groups from all across Canada participating. There have been a lot of reports of quilts being made for various charities. This is the best news!

Although some guilds have reported a lower number of inches than in the fall (mainly because of snowbirds who go away to quilt and of course, soak up the sun), we have still managed to almost get as far as expected. We are right on track for an arrival just in time for Quilt Canada 2016.

So keep sending in those inches to Marilyn at marilyn_cqa@vaxxine.com.

Here are some pictures of Show & Tell:

Orchard Valley Quilt Guild

Elgin Nimble Thimbles

Buckhorn Quilters' Guild

Youth Challenge 2016

It’s that time again!

This year’s Cantik Batik Youth Challenge - My Favourite Sport or Game, is now closed  and the voting for Viewers’Choice begins today! We have so many entries this year, with a lot of interpretations of the theme. You can view these on our website.

Members are encouraged to log into the our website and vote. We have also opened it up to family and friends. You will only be able to vote once per computer. Don’t forget to remember the number of your favourite quilt before you go to vote.

Thank you so much Cantik Batiks for your continued sponsorship!

Enjoy the collection of quilts by our youth inCanada!